This
collection of nineteen articles explores the implications of a pluriform
textual tradition on the fields of Hebrew Bible and the literature of the
Second Temple Period. In section 1 (Introduction), the editors suggest that
this study is needed because the Qumran material is fundamentally modifying
our understanding of many central questions, such as the textual development of
the Hebrew Scriptures, the formation of the canon, and biblical interpretation
in the Second Temple period (p. 3). They call for greater terminological
clarity (p. 5), briefly outline the reality of changes to Scripture in the
manuscript evidence (p. 6), and suggest that scribes should not be seen as
merely mechanical copyists but as theologically creative authors (p. 7).

Section
2 (Methodological Issues), begins with J. J. Collins's article Changing
Scripture. Collins's primary objective is to discuss the ideology of scribal
changes: both the positive and negative receptions of scribal activity in the
Torah (p. 23). He explores rewriting in Deuteronomy, Jubilees, the Temple
Scroll, and rewritten scriptural compositions concluding that to charge these
authors with fraud, however, is not entirely anachronistic (pp. 4041).

Next,
in The Evolutionary Production and Transmission of the Scriptural Books,
Eugene Ulrich analyses the relationship and overlap between composition,
redaction, textual transmission and reception (p. 48). He suggests that the
process of the composition of the Scriptures was organic, developmental, with
successive layers of tradition, revised to meet the needs of the historically
and religiously changing community (p. 55) and that canon is the ultimate act
of reception (p. 62).

Hans
Debel, in Rewritten Bible, Variant Literary Editions and Original Text(s):
Exploring the Implications of a Pluriform Outlook on the Scriptural Tradition,
analyses the significance of the Qumran finds on the search for an Urtext
and the relationship of a possible Urtext to the rewritten
compositions (p. 67). He concludes that the search for an Urtext is an
ill-fated undertaking (pp. 8485) and that the division between variant
literary editions and rewritten compositions needs to dissolve into a sliding
scale  (p. 84).

In
her article, Talking about Rewritten Texts: Some Reflections on Terminology,
Molly Zahn argues that the use of older terminology hinders the full
appreciation of the Qumran textual evidence. She discusses the viability of
multiple terms such as parabiblical, pseudo-X, Bible, apocryphon, and
pseudepigraphon. She concludes with a warning: we must avoid projecting our
categories back onto the data. However, we know little about the operative
literary categories of the Second Temple period.

Section
3 (Changed Texts) commences with Sidnie White Crawford's article The
Pentateuch as Found in the Pre-Samaritan Texts and 4QReworked Pentateuch.
Based on her analysis of the pre-SP and rewritten texts, White Crawford
concludes that the harmonistic/expansive text-type is not an accident in the
Qumran collection, but part of the Qumran community's repertoire of
Pentateuchal texts (p. 128).

Anneli
Aejmelaeus, in David's Three Choices: Textual and Literary Development in 2
Samuel 24, demonstrates that the text of 2 Sam 24 has been edited at
different stages during its history, not just in the hands of the editors
responsible for the Deuteronomic History but also later (p. 137). She
concludes that these changes were made precisely for their preparation for inclusion
in the collection of Prophets and thus in the canon of sacred Scripture (p.
149).

In
The Legs and Wings of the Grasshopper: A Case Study on Changes in the
Masoretic Text and in the Old Greek Translation of the Book of Leviticus,
Kristin De Troyer sifts through the textual, semantic, and interpretive issues
present in MT Lev 11:21 by appealing to the OG. She argues that the reading
witnessed in the Schøyen manuscript likely represents the OG and that,
through textual correction in the LXX, this reading eventually became a Qere
in the MT (pp. 16061).

Robert
Kugler, in Uncovering a New Dimension of Early Judean Interpretation of the
Greek Torah: Ptolemaic Law Interpreted by its Own Rhetoric, argues that the
language of the LXX Torah mirrors legal language from Ptolemaic era papyri and
that the LXX used Ptolemaic legal language to reinterpret that same legal
material (p. 166). For Kugler, this reuse of legal language is evidence that
Judeans in Hellenistic Egypt were allowed to abide by both Ptolemaic koine
law and Judean law (p. 173).

In
Double Prophecy: The Pilgrimage of the Nations in Mic 4:15 and Isa 2:15,
Reinhard Müller argues that these parallel prophetic texts likely originated in
Micah and that the vision was later added to Isaiah based on the textual
evidence (p. 178). He suggests that this vision was inserted into the beginning
of the prophetic corpus because it supplemented Isaiah's focus on the Zion
tradition (pp. 1878).

Juha
Pakkala, in The Quotations and References of the Pentateuchal Laws in
Ezra-Nehemiah, attempts to describe the textual form of the Torah in the fifththird
centuries b.c.e. using legal
quotations in Ezra-Nehemiah. He notes that the authors of Ezra-Nehemiah do not
distinguish between the original law and its interpretation (p. 215) and that these
authors were much less concerned about the exact or actual text of the
Pentateuch than what has been traditionally assumed in scholarship (p. 219).

In
The Textual Connection Between 1QM 1 and the Book of Daniel, Hanna Venonen
investigates the still-developing text of Daniel in light of 1QM 1. Her
analysis is primarily concerned with the meaning of 1QM and she suggests that
the textual reworking of column 1 had rendered the text incoherent (p. 242).

The
final contribution to section 3 is Hanne von Weissenberg's article Changing
Scripture? Scribal Corrections in MS 4QXIIc. Von Weissenberg
examines the scribal habits in 4QXIIc and investigates the scribal
mechanism by which supralinear corrections become incorporated into a text. She
concludes that the changes present in 4QXIIc attest to the
scribal contribution to the development of the texts that became the Hebrew
Bible (p. 269).

Section
4 (Deuteronomism in Later Literature) opens with Pancratius C. Beentjes's
article The Book of Ben Sira and Deuteronomistic Heritage: A Critical
Approach. Beentjes analyses the lexical and thematic influences of the
Deuteronomic corpus on Ben Sira and concludes that, while a relationship
exists, Ben Sira's dependence on Deuteronomic literature and theology should
not be overstated (p. 293).

Francis
Borchardt, in The Deuteronomic Legacy of 1 Maccabees, traces the vestiges of
Deuteronomic tradition and style in 1 Maccabees. He concludes that Deuteronomic
phraseology abounds in 1 Maccabees (p. 317), but that it is difficult to tell
whether it derives from Deuteronomic compositions or the common speech of the
Hasmonean period.

In
The Deuteronomistic Ideology and Phraseology in the Book of Baruch, Mark
Marttila suggests that Baruch is a pastiche of scriptural passages and that
Deuteronomic phraseology and theology abound in the composition (p. 321). He
explores the numerous lexical and thematic connections between the Deuteronomic
corpus and Baruch concluding that the various genres and styles within Baruch
mirror the Deuteronomic corpus (p. 342).

Mika
S. Pajunen, in The Use of Different Aspects of the Deuteronomistic Ideology in
Apocryphal Psalms, explores the extent to which so-called Deuteronomistic
ideology has influenced these psalms (p. 347). He analyses multiple
non-Masoretic psalms found at Qumran and concludes that Deuteronomistic
ideology was deeply embedded in the composers of these psalms (p. 365).

In
Judith and Deuteronomistic Heritage, Anssi Voitila analyses the Deuteronomic
influence on the book of Judith. He notes multiple thematic and verbal
parallels between the Deuteronomic corpus and Judith, but concludes that
Deuteronomic influence does not dominate Judith (p. 386).

The
final article in the volume is A Deuteronomic Heritage in Tobit? by Stuart
Weeks. He argues that Tobit is a sophisticated composition and that it is
influenced by multiple scriptural traditions including, but not limited to, the
Deuteronomic corpus (p. 390). He concludes that if there is a Deuteronomic
heritage in Tobit it jostles for space amongst other concerns (pp. 4023).

As
with any volume of this size and scope, the quality of contributions and the
relevance of the topics to one's research interests are bound to be
heterogeneous. Nonetheless, this volume is important and makes a positive
contribution to scholarship for multiple reasons. First, the quality of the
contributors instantly lends credibility to the overall project. Second,
few studies have been devoted to exploring the ramification of textual
pluriformity and how it influences the way in which scholars understand and
talk about the Hebrew Scriptures and the literature of Second Temple Judaism.
This volume deals extensively with this issue, and is therefore a welcome addition. Third, this collection
explores this issue by examining a broad swathe of Jewish literature including
the Hebrew Bible, Qumran literature and manuscripts, and the so-called deuterocanonical works. For those with an interest in scribal
habits, the history of the text of the Hebrew Bible, and the legacy of the
Deuteronomic corpus, among other interests, I strongly recommend this volume.